Appealing

We have two more PWYC Previews for Kit Marlowe. I will be at tonights 8pm Preview, if you want to hang out. There is another one at 8 pm on Saturday. Then the whole things opens wide like a crocodile eating a gnu on Sunday night.

Little secret, we are sold out next Thursday! Wait can I actually tell a secret and use an exclimation mark after it? Well I just did and I don't go back and edit for anyone, so there let's all start sharing secrets on public blogs with the same puncuation that we would use if we were yelling!

Check out this blurb from this weeks print edition of The Onion.

Pictures from Our Scenic Designer

So close now. Can you taste it? According to the cast, more importantly can you smell it?

PWYC's start tomorrow night folks at 8pm. No Reservations, just cue up and hope for the best!

Kit Marlowe is going to be something special and you won't want to miss it.

Get to Know Roni Lancaster II

What a week it will be! Pay-What-You-Can Previews for Kit Marlowe start on Thursday this time around, so those of you who are used to having a PWYC on Wednesday, you have the night off plan on Thursday, Friday or Saturday.

Opening Night is Sunday at 7pm.

Get it? Got it? Good.

We have a return appearance here on the Get to Know Me Show. Roni Lancaster returns for her turn upon the wheel of fate. Here are Roni's answers from her birds interview, let's see what tid-bits she shares this time. Enjoy!

1. What is your position, role or roles in Kit Marlowe?

Sound Designer

2. Is this your first go around at the Rorschach rodeo? If no what have you done for us before? If yes, what has surprised you the most about working for us?

Nope. This is my second go-round. My last time at this rodeo was as TD for birds. (And a partial time before that I lent a hand and a paint brush to Dali.)

3. If this play were a Beatle which one would it be and why?

Hmm. I'd have to say the scarab beetle. There's all that mythology about creation, and living forever, and transformation and stuff. (The golden tortoise beetle would be my next choice, because it so like a chameleon...but the scarab has a lot more interesting facets to it.)

beat . . .

Oh...wait! You were asking about The Beatles....well, in that case, I would have to say the play is more like the 5th Beatle. I forget his name...Pete, or Stuart, or George, or maybe it was Neil...

4. What feature of Marlowe's London should Rorschach duplicate to really enhance the audience's experience?

The smell. We already play around with the "look" and the "sound" of that time period. I say Rorschach should go for broke and make it as authentically smelly as possible.

5. For the designers what is the weirdest thing a director ever asked you to include in your design?

I was once asked to create the sound of "musty water." (That required a little interpretation.)

6. If you could go out for a wild night on the town with Kit Marlowe, where would you go and what would you do? Kit Marlowe living up the night life?

Nope. I don't see it happening. He strikes me as the kind of guy to sit at home in his footy pajamas, veggin' on the couch, watchin' a movie...

7. Can you think of worse way of being killed than being stabbed in the eye? If so how?

Well, honestly, I can't say that I think being killed in any fashion would be very pleasant. I'm kind of attached to living. Tho I do suppose anything slow and painfully drawn out would be worse than in the eye. Drowning in one's own blood comes to mind. Or memories of that scene in Braveheart where he is eviscerated slowly.

What are the Alums doing these days?

Thank you to the two folks who left questions in the comment section yesterday. That will be a big help in my crafting this round of Get to Know! entries this go around.

Mean time I have been asked by a very kind friend to post some information about an upcoming production with a familiar name but which has absolutely nothing to do with folks trapped in a German apartment building on the hottest night of the year. Besides this is The Arabian Nights (plural) not Arabian Night (no article singular). Read what Gwen G. (Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards and Rough Magic) has to say and why we should be interested:

Hello Scott!

I know you've been a benefactor and a boon to Friends of Rorschach (FOR) in the past, so I was hoping you could maybe do me a huge favor. Myself, Miss Katie Atkinson (A Bright Room Called Day), and Mr. John Tweel (365 days/plays) are all in a show opening this week, The Arabian Nights presented by Constellation Theatre Company. (I'm not sure if any of the other designers are Rorschachites.) (Editor's Note: Yes, Yvette Ryan is a Rorschach alum having designed Behold!)

We have pay-what-you can previews this Thursday and Friday at 8 pm, and open on Saturday. It's at the Source Theatre down on 14th Street, right around the corner from many delightful restaurants. I'd love you forever if you could maybe put a little shout-out for us on the blog!

Here's the website with a big fat picture: http://constellationtheatre.org/

So support these fine folks and take advantage of the PWYC performances.

Making a List

So much going on that I am not sure where to begin. So this will be a list of things you need to know about birds this week:

1. First preview last night. Due to our constant need to improve and make things better the show time was pushed back to 9pm. Once again I apologize to you folks who came thinking the show was at 8pm, but these things are unavoidable. And for those of you hung on and saw the show at 9, thank you. Having an audience is always important, especially for a new show.

2. Watched the show last night. What really speaks to me in this show are the performances. There are a number of surprises in store for Rorschach regulars as four fantastic actors join our Tim Getman in putting some real humanity and vulnerability to these characters that Jennifer Maisel has created.

3. Pay-What-You-Can Previews continue tonight and Friday night. Show time is our regular 8pm. Tickets will be available starting at 7pm on a first come first serve basis, so you might want to get there by 7:30 so you can be sure to find a seat.

4. After I watched the preview I stopped by Grady Weatherford's place to see the work he was doing on the new birds trailer. It is still coming together but I think he gets better and better each time he creates one of these. We sat in front of his computer screen for about a half an hour and he showed me how the magic happens and he makes the show look awsome. Should have something to show you early next week.

5. Marigan came down to do a photo call on Tuesday night. Should have some pictures to show you all tomorrow.

6. Opening is Saturday and it is my understanding that we are either sold out or nearly sold out. If it was your plan to RSVP at the last moment I am afraid that this performance is already packed. I encourage you to either join us for one of the 2 remaining previews or come some time during the regular run.

7. Still have a couple more Get to Know interviews coming soon. So be on the look out.

That does it for today, check in tomorrow and I will have photos for you to look at. Very exciting! No?

Time Keeps on Slipping

There are a lot of people very busy in this week in preparation for birds' Opening Night on Saturday at 8pm. Envelopes have been stuffed. Sets are being painted. Lines are being polished. Blocking is being finalized. And stitches are being stiched. This is when we all are fighting the urge to go back to college and study something that wouldn't have us working long hours for small pay.

But in the end it will be worth it. It always is.

With each email I write to a reviewer who hasn't R'ed their RSVP for press opening. As I print out transparancies for the run tonight. As I juggle a photographer and a videographer to get the materials together for the press photos and the trailer. I know it is worth it.

As Randy and Jenny put out one fire after another. As Deb finds just the right pair of shoes for Brian. As Jake and Roni put the final coat of paint on the set. They know it is worth it.

And as Wendy makes her final notes for the actors. As the actors try and remember the new blocking or lines they were given yesterday in addition to every other note they have gotten in the last month of rehearsals. They know it will be worth it too.

Because on Saturday night this show belongs to the audiences. Up until then it is our own little secret that we share just enough to peak your interest. With photos of Marissa and shots of the set, just titilating enough to make you all wonder what the hell is this strange creature that is being put together over at Casa.

Well the wait is almost. When you are a performer, designer, director, producer, playwright or stage manager you always want more time, but time is finite. As is the run. So book your tickets now and maybe stop in for a PWYC.

God Bless You, Mr. Vonnegut

Fantastic Preview last night. We had over half the house filled. Not bad for a Wednesday Night Preview. I know it will only get better. Remember that we have two more Pay-What-You-Can Previews, Tonight and Tomorrow at 8pm. The audience seemed more than entertained and I think the cast is finding moments of laughter and tears that we didn't even know existed in References. . .

Yet this morning I heard some very bad and sad news. I don't speak for all of Rorschach when I say this but someone who I think viewed the world in a similar way that we do passed away yesterday, Kurt Vonnegut.

When I got out of college I took a substitute teaching job at my old high school. Right next to the school was the public library. Once a week I would wander over to the library during my lunch break and check out two books. The closest shelf to the entrance to the library was the Fiction Shelf V. Vonnegut was right at eye level, so my discovery of him was as much an act of laziness as it was intellectual curiosity.

I had never read Vonnegut when I was in school and decided that I should at least try reading Slaughter House Five. This book opened my eyes to the potentials of story-telling. As the story moved back and forth along the continuum of one man's life, as extra-terrestrials and the fire bombing of Dressden began to fill my minds eye, I began to realize that Science Fiction and Literature were not mutually exclusive. That social commentary and deal with your own demons were not something that needed to be seperated but all of it spoke to univeral truths that exist within all of us.

I couldn't get enough. Next came Breakfast of Champions, Player Piano, Cat's Cradle and Slapstick. By the end of the year I had read all of his books and all of the short stories. My mind was filled with images of super evolved humans who had survived the end of the world, former American Spies who were exciles in their own country, and Ice 9. I had found a writer whose liberal leanings and moral view of the world echoed my own. I had found my literary hero.

When I found my home, here at Rorschach, the thing that inspired me most about the work we do is the very real and solid connection to the work of Vonnegut that exists in much of our work. Our willingness to produce writers who don't play by the strictest of narritive rules. Writers who play fast and loose with the continuum of time and space (Come and see References . . . and you'll see what I mean). Who are willing to break your heart and make you laugh at the same time.

I mourn the passing of a great writer and I leave you with the three morals of my favorite Vonnegut novel, Mother Night. "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." Another is "Make love when you can. It's good for you." Yet another is "When you're dead, you're dead."

Goodbye Kilgore Trout!

PWYC Previews Start Tonight

Tonight begins what like to think of as our experiment in theater. Once again we are offering a chance for those of you who know a good bargain when you see one, to come and see References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot on the cheap.

We have three Pay-What-You-Can Previews, tonight, tomorrow and Friday at 8pm. No reservations, no minimum, just come on by and say I want to see the show.

This is not a fully realized show mind you, there will be tweaks between now and Saturday Night. The cleverest among you will see the show during Previews and then come and pay our always low $20 to see the finished product some time later in the run.

This show is so hot that the email we sent out to announce the previews went straight into some people's spam folders. Got to rememeber to spell "Hot" either H*T or H OT, next time or some people may think we forgot to tell them about the show.

See you tonight!

PWYC Start Tonight

Rorschach's MONSTER comes to life this weekend, with three Pay-What-You-Can Previews on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night at 8pm.

What better way to celebrate the Halloween Weekend than experiencing Neal Bell's adaptation of Frankenstein?

For the truly fearless we offer our special Halloween Night Performance. Join the friends of Rorschach as we celebrate All-Hallows Eve with one of the scariest stories in the world. Tickets are selling fast!

Want a Sneak Peak at MONSTER?? View our theatrical "trailer" by following this link. This video, created by Artistic Partner Grady Weatherford, gives you a taste of the thrills and chills awaiting you at Rorschach Theatre.

If you can't join us for any of these shows remember that MONSTER runs until November 26th and tickets are available at 1-800-494-TIXS or by visiting the web site.

MONSTER has been hailed as one of the most inventive and frightening adaptations of Frankenstein ever to be put on stage. Drawing parallels between our modern science and morals and those of Shelley's characters, playwright Neal Bell has created a unique and chilling telling of this Gothic Classic. Take away the Hollywood lens, and the story of Victor Frankenstein and his creation becomes a lean, terrifying tale of morality and immortality.

Directed by Randy Baker

Cast: Lily Balsen, Nicola Daval, Jeremy Goren, Jason Basinger Linkins, Tiernan Madorno, Paul McLane, Ryan Nealy, Robert Rector, Jon Reynolds

Design and Production: Debra Kim Sivigny (Set), David C. Ghatan (Lights), Erin Nugent (Costumes), William Burns (Sound), Megan Reichelt (Stage Manager), Jillian Levine-Sisson (Asst. Stage Manager), Jessie Gallogly (Asst. Director), Andrew F. Griffin (Asst. Lighting Design), Grady Weatherford (Fight Choreography)

Running Time: 90 Minutes

“Starting from Shelley’s original, but with a sharp eye for cogency and a sharp ear for the turn of a phrase, [Neal Bell] has managed to locate the philosophical germ inside each of the horror myth’s iconic scenes. The scare is still there, but now has other functions than merely frightening your inner child – with fantasies of impotence, rape and castration on a dark and stormy night. If you really want to frighten yourself, there’s always today’s paper; if you want a dramatic story that makes you think-- you should probably go see MONSTER.”-- Michael Finegold, Village Voice